


A Perfect Place to Stargaze

by shuckit



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 05:30:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13517565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuckit/pseuds/shuckit
Summary: Two strangers meet unexpectedly and bond over their adoration for science and the stars.





	A Perfect Place to Stargaze

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry in advance for how little Brenda and Teresa resemble their characters !!!

The thrum of overplayed music and loud laughter echoed in Teresa's eardrums as she skirted past a large group of laughing women. Bodies shifted and swayed in tune to the music, creating a difficult floor to navigate without bumping into tipsy strangers. How had Teresa's friends successfully dragged her here?

Currently studying at the University of Denver, Teresa hadn't had much time to do anything. She'd thrown herself into her work and education with a surprising energy and enthusiasm. She'd allowed her friends to drag her to the bar with a reluctance unknown to her fellow university aged peers. Teresa had just barely arrived and within minutes, she'd lost her friends in the chaos and tumult of bodies and sweat. Lost and disoriented, Teresa found herself a stool and resisted the urge to call her friends. Whether or not she was having a good time, it would be unfair to ruin their enjoyment of the night. 

Cupping her chin in her hands, her gaze shifted across the storm of people, deciding to pass the time by examining the strangers around her. Teresa's gaze landed on a young woman with blonde hair, her makeup smeared, bopping confidently to the music with her friends. She seemed like someone who would be the life of the party - the center and brightest flame of a friend group. She appeared to be the sort who didn't need to thrive off of alcohol to be confident - her own personality did the job. The girl next to her, in contrast, wore a bored expression as she shifted uncomfortably to the music's beat. An introvert, most likely. Maybe she simply didn't like dancing which sounded logical enough. Teresa's gaze shifted towards a man with a baseball cap and a scruffy beard - she had no doubt his glass contained something a little more than water. He was alone, and seemed quite content to be by himself with his drink. She wondered if he had children, a wife, a family, if he loved them, if he was happy. An answer existed to these unceasing questions but remained unattainable. It was interesting to dwell on questions knowing very well the answers were simply out of reach.

Teresa's gaze moved on and landed on a girl, most likely around the same age as herself. She was seated at the counter, her head tipped downwards to view a book settled in front of her. Brown hair spilled across her shoulders and framed her clear face and defined features. 

"Hey, beautiful." Despite the distance between Teresa and the girl, the man's voice was loud; defined and laced with vulgarity. He'd appeared out of nowhere and had settled himself in the stool directly beside the girl. He was seemingly very drunk, tottering on the edge of his stool as if dizzy.

Lifting her head, the girl glanced towards her new companion with a dirty look. "Leave me alone," she responded, her voice soothingly raspy and husky. 

"Bbbut, I don't wwant to." The man's words slurred together in a whining tone as he grinned weakly. 

The girl, remaining resolute, looked like she was about to smack him. "Get your nasty face outta here."

The man blinked blearily, lifting his arm to drape over her shoulders but she pushed his arm away with an expression of disgust. "Can you understand English? Are you deaf? Go away."

"You're pretty." The man warbled.

Teresa stood, her stool skidding against the linoleum floor. Perhaps the girl didn't need her help but a slap in the face certainly wasn't going to help the situation and considering the girl's hands had developed into tightly clenched fists - violence seemed to be imminent.

"Hey, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Teresa reached the duo, her gaze targeted on the foul-smelling man. His breath reeked but she masked her features with fake professionalism.

"W-Who are you?" The man glanced at Teresa, blinking rapidly.

"I own this bar. I can ban you from coming here again, please leave the girl alone." A twenty-two year old running a popular bar certainly wasn't a common thing and Teresa was clearly spinning an unplanned lie.

The man's mind was clearly too fuddled to understand how illogical the statement was - in a rush of stuttered apologies and fumbled steps, the man vanished, tripping over his shoelaces as he went. Teresa felt herself smile as she turned to face the girl. 

"You're not actually the bar owner, are you?" The girl asked, quirking a brow with a bemused expression painted across her features.

"No." Teresa sat upon the stool next to her, settling her arm on the counter and fiddling with a receipt. "He was way too drunk to realize."

The edges of the girl's lips lifted into a small smile. "I'm Brenda," she introduced herself, ducking her head. "Thanks for the help."

"Yeah, of course." She murmured. "He was acting like an idiot." She cleared her throat and with a slow smile, replied. "I'm Teresa."

Brenda bobbed her head, a chuckle escaping her lips. It sounded like her voice - a husky, melodious and breathless sound. Teresa glanced down at the book in front of Brenda that had previously caught her attention. "What's that?" She murmured, viewing the page with curiousity. Brenda's hair hid the majority of the page but Teresa could view a glimpse of what looked like the night sky.

"Oh," Brenda chuckled - that beautiful sound once more - as she leaned back to reveal the book's contents. "It's my science textbook, I'm currently majoring in general sciences at Denver University. I have a quiz next week in astronomy," she explained as she lifted her shoulders in a loose shrug. "I needed to study."

An antsy rush of excitement churned in Teresa's stomach as she straightened upon her stool. "I'm majoring in Biology and doing a program on Immunology and Infection." 

It was like an invisible puzzle piece had been slid into place. Teresa was passionate about the universe's way of working - how living organisms and infections coexisted and combatted against each other. She was interested in ultimately finding solutions to problems and understanding how and what it was that fought against infections and succeeding - known as immunity. Finding those who had a shared passion for science, which happened rarely, and the complexity of the world always seemed to ignite a fueled fire of excitement in her gut.

"Really? That's neat, I've heard about it," Brenda murmured, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. "I've always kind of wanted to take it. It's interesting to even think about, not to mention learn about it."

"You really should," Teresa responded brightly, absentmindedly itching the back of her neck. "It's intriguing." She took her time before continuing, with an amused smile. "But I wouldn't consider a bar a great place to study."

"It's definitely not," Brenda replied, rolling her eyes. "My roommates were being brats and I only live down the road so I walked over to escape. And study."

"And then I distracted you." Teresa flushed with colour, shaking her head to herself. "I'm sorry, I can leave if-"

"No, it's really fine." Brenda's features eased into a relaxed smile as she closed her textbook with a thump. "Talking to you is interesting. On the other hand, talking to my roommates is like talking to roadkill."

"That bad?" Teresa resisted the urge to laugh, her gaze locked upon Brenda's features. A tingle of guilt pierced her conscience at the prospect of tearing the girl away from her studies but a quiet side of her longed to occupy her time with the harmless conversation. It wasn't ordinary for Teresa to run into someone as interested in science as she was; she yearned for a starlit conversation about existence and the world and the galaxy. But the prospect of a serene moment like that ever existing seemed very uncommon.

"Worse." Brenda chuckled, her gaze sliding to the doorway. She sucked in a deep breath, her features softening. "My friend Jorge is picking me up soon, I should wait outside."

Teresa nodded instinctively, rising from her chair. "I can come with you," she volunteered genuinely, throwing her heart into those words. Their conversation had been alarmingly short and Teresa wasn't willing to let the moment go so quickly. Her friends were still somewhere within the building's confines and Teresa was confident her lungs could use the fresh, sweet night air.

"Heck yeah," Brenda agreed, sliding her textbook under her arm before laughing sweetly. "Thank the heavens for you, Teresa." 

The thick smell of alcohol and perfume was overwhelming as the two ventured into the crowd of people, squeezing past shifting bodies and avoiding moving limbs. Teresa never fully understood what compelled people to pour burning liquid down their throats until they couldn't think straight simply to deal with hangovers and foggy memories they wished they could delete. She preferred her academic and logical lifestyle - consumed with cozy Saturdays, coffee warming her fingertips and aced tests. As for Brenda, Teresa wasn't sure. She hadn't yet figured the girl out, and doubted a simple one-time conversation would do the trick. 

Reaching the doorway, Teresa eased her shoulders and pushed the doors open, an immediate cold gust of air enveloping her. She sucked a deep breath into her lungs, inhaling the sweet fragrance of a city night. Down the street, someone was closing their donut shop and the sugary smell wafted towards them. As Brenda joined her, she let the door shut behind them and the loud sounds of chattering humans was vanquished. A temporary silence lingered between the two; peaceful rather than uncomfortable. Teresa glanced at her companion - Brenda had tipped her head back to view the night sky, dark hair spilling across her shoulders. Teresa followed her gaze towards the dazzling night sky. It was one of those nights where the moon resembled an orb of pale light, serenely glowing in contrast to the thick quilt of black that was the sky.

"It's beautiful," Teresa murmured. It was a lame way to break the silence but no phrase could have been truer. 

"I know a perfect place to stargaze," Brenda mumbled, seemingly lost in thought. "Here, the stars are invisible. But if you know the right location, you can see the sky like the artwork it is." Her voice had taken a strangely soft tone - matched with her husky voice, it was beautiful. "Every little star has a place of it's own, reigning in the sky like a jewel. The whole sky is illuminated with little dashes of light, small inklings of their true majesty." 

"You sound like a poet - you sure you're majoring in science?" Teresa joked, shooting the girl a glance. 

"Yeah, I'm a real good writer of poetry." She joked with an effortless laugh. "William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, those oldies got nothing on me." Brenda rolled her eyes, finally tearing her gaze away from the night sky, her dark eyes colliding with Teresa's.

Teresa was unable to contain the quiet laugh that surged from her stomach, igniting a peaceful happiness in her chest. Before the moment could last any longer, a dinged up car skidded to a stop in front of them. The man at the steering wheel lifted his hand in a friendly wave.

"Hey, Jorge!" Brenda called before quickly averting her attention to Teresa, talking in a rush, her words tumbling from her mouth as she hurried to get them out. "Hey, do you want my number?" Brenda offered, shifting a lock of her hair behind her ear as she fished her phone out of her back pocket. "We could do this again sometime - maybe not _here_. But somewhere."

"Yeah, that would be nice." Teresa snatched her own phone just as quick, fingertips dancing across her screen as she entered the passcode. They exchanged phones to enter in their numbers, before handing them back with satisfied faint smiles.

Brenda waved in farewell before turning and hopping into the car, shutting the door with a satisfying thump. 

Teresa had taken a couple steps toward the building but remained standing, watching as the car loudly set off and was swallowed in the shadows. She absentmindedly smiled, barely aware of her lip's muscles. Perhaps her friends dragging her to the bar hadn't been a complete waste of her evening - meeting new people and attempting to understand them and what fueled them was so interesting to Teresa. The brief conversation with Brenda had lasted what felt like only a moment but it was one she'd begun to treasure. Brenda's words echoed in her mind as if ricocheting off the interior of her head. Teresa enjoyed one last breath of clear, sweet air before she turned to enter the building once again, a satisfied hum on her lips.


End file.
